Brahea Armata Roots?

[redsquirrel]

i bought one in the spring and planted it out soon after.not done anything either except lose 4 of its leaves.hopefully its just settling in and not dead but it wouldnt surprise me if it snuffs it.

[Nigel]

Ste, you dont need to take it out of the pot as that would be a disaster, but you should find some roots if you dig down side of pot or explore the drainage holes at the bottom. New roots should be easily found.

[Springy]

I bought this one from Desert to Jungle at Gardeners world live show earlier this year.
I planted it within a week of buying it. I put plenty of farm manure, grit and blood fish and bone in the planting hole and also sprinkled the roots with a microrhizal fungi. I gave it plenty of water during the warmer spells.

I've just been outside with a torch and it has grown 2 fully opened leaves and has another spear in the middle so far.

I don't know if the fungi help with the growth of this palm but I always use it when planting my "permanent" plants.

Its just a thought!

[Adrian]

Nice palm Springy but way too close to that fence, remembering that they hate root disturbance its no good trying to move it in a year or so's time.

[Springy]

Yes good point Adrian. The fence is only 4' high at that point as the palm is in a raised bed.

I'm normally a very optimistic person but I am thinking that it will probably be killed by bad winters before I would even have to worry about that!

I'm sure that using the fungi makes a difference to how a plant roots though. I'm not sure that everyone on here agrees though!

[redsquirrel]

it does if you get the right ones im sure,have read about and seen results online.even tried pouring brown sugar solution on my b.boys to encourage the spread of it.
only thing i have against it is there are hundreds if not thousands of different fungi,how do you know you are buying the right one?? only a few are any good to plants

[Ste]

Is it normal that the tips of the leaves go like a grey colour? Or is it just mine

[GoggleboxUK]

That's normal, they split like snake's tongues on the oldest leaves too.

[Ste]

I might have just surprised myself a bit now. I said my brahea has done nothing all year. Well the 2 speares that were in there when I bought it in March are still in there and still tightly closed but ive just came across a picture I took in March and compared it to a picture I took tonight and to me, it seems slightly bigger. I dont know if it has actually grown any or if the leaves have just settled a bit over time. Im thinking this because the first pic was taken not long after it arrived and the leaves had been tied up for delivery so im wondering with the leaves being more upright made it look smaller or do you think it has put on a little growth??? Pics taken from same angle (march - november)

[redsquirrel]

the fact the leaves are still blue says it all Ste,looks healthy enough,probs just settling in this year

[sanatic1234]

Nice read guys

[Nigel]

Its clearly grown, nothing to worry about there.

[Ste]

Its clearly grown, nothing to worry about there.

I thoght it had done nothing but thats because I see it everyday, hard to notice but when you see a pic of when it first arrived and an up to date pic there does seem to be a slight difference

[Ste]

Do the spears look ok? They have a brownish colour to them or is this because they are still closed? Although they have been closed now for 9 months

[Nigel]

Thats a very healthy plant.